DA: Officers justified in shooting cop killer

San Diego  Six San Diego police officers and a county probation officer were justified in the fatal shooting last year of Dejon White, who had just killed a San Diego police officer and severely wounded a civilian, the District Attorney’s Office said.

White, 23, shot Officer Jeremy Henwood on Aug. 6 in City Heights after fleeing the El Cajon area, where he earlier shot a man in the face who was eating in his car in the parking lot of an In N Out Burger. The victim, whom White did not know, survived but required multiple surgeries.

White used a 12-gauge pump shotgun in both incidents, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Henwood was in his patrol car when he was shot by White. He had pulled over because he thought White needed assistance.

According to an account of the incident by the District Attorney’s Office, witnesses said White pulled up to Henwood’s patrol car in an Audi, leaned over from the driver’s seat, pointed a shotgun out the passenger window and fired. The officer was struck in the head and later died.

White drove to his nearby apartment and told a neighbor he had just shot a police officer. The neighbor called police. A police helicopter crew saw White leaving the apartment minutes later in an Audi with a shotgun.

Police located White and ordered him to surrender. White reached over to the passenger seat and armed himself with the shotgun, raising it to shooting position. Officers John Carroll, Nicholas Dedonato, Scott Holden, Christopher Luth, Kelly Stewart, Michael Usrey and county Probation Officer Bobby Burns all fired.

They fired in self-defense as well as in defense of one another and bear no criminal liability for their actions, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a letter dated May 15 to San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne. The letter was released Monday.

During an interview after the incident, White’s neighbor said the gunman told her: “You better leave because I just shot a cop. There is about to be a whole bunch of police over here because I just shot a cop.”

An autopsy by the Medical Examiner’s Office showed White had multiple gunshot wounds to his head and left shoulder.